New Katusha-Alpecin kit for the Tour de France - News shorts

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Katusha-Alpecin will debut a new kit at the Tour de France, one that breaks up the all-red jersey with a block of white on the chest and shoulders.

The new jersey was spotted by the German Radsport magazine and a photo posted on Twitter.

With Cofidis, Lotto Soudal, Trek-Segafredo and BMC all having predominantly red jerseys, the change will help the Swiss-registered team stand out from the bunch.

Soupe pulled from Cofidis Tour team

Cofidis sprinter Nacer Bouhanni will be without one of his main lead-out men during this year's Tour de France. The team announced on Wednesday that Geoffrey Soupe will not take part in the race after showing poor form during Sunday's French national championships.

Soupe dropped out of the race in Saint-Omer, and then, following medical examinations and a consultation with the team staff, he was removed from the Tour de France squad. He will be replaced by climber Nicolas Edet.

Cofidis for the Tour de France: Nacer Bouhanni, Dimitri Claeys, Nicolas Edet, Christophe Laporte, Cyril Lemoine, Luis Angel Maté, Daniel Navarro, Florian Sénéchal, Julien Simon.

14-year-old Italian tests positive for steroid

If Andre Cardoso's EPO positive dashed hopes that cycling has cleaned up its act, the case of a 14-year-old Italian boy who tested positive for an anabolic steroid is yet another depressing reminder that the anti-doping authorities' work is never done.

The unidentified child tested positive for Mesterolone, an anabolic steroid, in a regional race, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, and was suspended by CONI.

Although the newspaper notes that this is the youngest athlete ever to test positive in the country, it does not note how frequently riders in the junior ranks are tested.

Margaliot apologises for crashing Sagiv in Israeli nationals

Israel Cycling Academy manager Ran Margaliot has taken full responsibility for a mishap during the Israeli national road championships this weekend that caused Guy Sagiv to crash heavily with less than 3km to go.

Sagiv punctured with 2.5km to go, according to a statement issued by the team,  and as he got going again, Margaliot, driving the team car, told Sagiv to hold on in order to bridge the gap.

"A sudden move of the car caused Sagiv to lose balance and he crashed badly," according to the team.

Margaliot said the move was "a great mistake and one that I feel very sad about".

"We want to stress that we strongly believe in ethical and fair racing conduct and this was an isolated incident that we deeply regret," the team said.

Organisers cancel Tour of Hungary stage because of weather

Inclement weather that included heavy rain and hail caused organisers of the Tour of Hungary to cancel stage 1 on Wednesday. The 138km route was supposed to take the peloton from Keszthely to Zalaegerszeg. UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling posted a video of the deluge on Twitter.

The six-day 2.2 race started Tuesday with a 1km prologue time trial won by Scott Sunderland of the Australian IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness team. The race will continue Thursday with a 140km stage from Velence to Siofok. Cycling Academy's Mihkel Raim won the overall race last year.